Supporting Faculty Members

José Díaz-Garayúa, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Geography

I am an Associate Professor of Human Geography and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) at California State University, Stanislaus, and co-Director of the Center for Applied Spatial Analysis. In 2016, I joined the geography program to reinforce the GIS curricular offering and to spearhead the Center for Applied Spatial Analysis (CASA). CASA offers geospatial consulting services to the campus and regional community. In this capacity, it also serves as a conduit for outreach to our larger community. CASA coordinates and provides internships and research opportunities to our students, facilitates grant development, and conducts projects in partnership with campus, community members, and other universities. I have carried out preliminary research on tobacco retailers’ locations vis-à-vis the tobacco priority population in the city of Turlock. During the last few years, CASA has been working in partnership with the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency. In addition, I have worked with colleagues, from ESRI and CONACYT in Mexico, on a spatiotemporal analysis of COVID-19 in Mexico. The spatiotemporal analysis describes a phenomenon that exists at a certain time and location, and it can be applied to examine the time period of the patterns of smoking prevalence across the region, for example. I am a researcher affiliated with the Nicotine & Cannabis Policy Center at UC Merced.

Previous works such as research interests

• Hernández-Lara, Oscar Gerardo; José Díaz-Garayúa; and Kevin Butler (forthcoming) COVID- 19 deaths in México: A spatiotemporal analysis in Stanley D. Brunn and Donna Gilbreath (eds.) COVID-19 and an Emerging World of Ad Hoc Geographies. Springer, US.
• Díaz-Garayúa, José R. (2022) Teaching in Times of Covid-19: Experiential-Based Learning with everyday digital tools. The Geography Teacher, 19(3): 134-138.
• Díaz-Garayúa, José R. and Carlos J. Guilbe-López (2020) Confronting Styles and scales in Puerto Rico: Comprehensive vs. Participative Planning under a Colonial Estate in Ashok Dutt, Sudhir Thakur, George Pomeroy, and Rajiv Thakur (eds.) Urban and Regional Planning and Development: 20th Century Forms and 21ft Century Transformation (347-360). Springer: Netherlands.
• Ortiz-Loyola, Brenda L. and José R. Díaz-Garayúa (2019) La Monoestrellada and the Identity Politics in Puerto Rico: Cultural Activism and Placemaking in 78 Pueblos y 1 Bandera in Nicholas Wise and John Harris (eds.) Events, Places, and Societies (181-195). Routledge: UK.
• Díaz-Garayúa, José R. (2017) Book Reviewed: Contemporary Ethnic Geographies in America for Journal of Social & Cultural Geography. DOI 10.1080/14649365.2017.1357673. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14649365.2017.1357673.
• Díaz-Garayúa, José R. (2016) Majority’s Perception about Minority Groups on Housing Values: An Urban Case of Study within the San Juan MSA, Puerto Rico in Ashok Dutt, Allen G. Noble, Frank G. Costa, Rajiv R. Thakur and Sudhir Thakur (eds.) Spatial Diversity and Dynamics in Resources and Urban Development (Vol-II) (331-350). Springer: Netherlands.

Current works/research

• Grant | 2022 – 2025, Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program (CA, US), Grant No. T32SR5004. Total Funding: $1,025,288.
• Contract | 2022, Stanislaus County (Modesto, CA, US). Total Funding: $50,256.03

Jingyun (Jenny) Li, Ph.D.
Associate Professor in Management, Operations, and Marketing

Previous works such as research interests

• Empirical research in healthcare management

Current works/research

• Working paper: “Hospital and Surgeon Experience and Patient Outcomes after Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery”

Ryan I. Logan, Ph.D., MPH
Assistant Professor of Anthropology

Ryan I. Logan is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology and a critical medical anthropologist in the Department of Anthropology. His research interests include applied anthropology, medical anthropology, health disparities, medical paraprofessionals, migration, and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). His current research analyzes the lived experiences of community health workers (CHWs), who are frontline public health workers that typically come from the communities they work within. Logan has conducted collaborative projects with CHWs in Indiana and is currently working on a project in the California-Mexico border region, the Bay Area, and the Central Valley. Logan is also involved in research regarding public park usage in Stanislaus County, moral challenges experienced by healthcare workers, and the usage of complementary and alternative medicine in the Central Valley.

Mechelle Perea-Ryan, Ph.D., FNP-BC, RN-PBC, PHN
Health Science Program Co-Director, School of Nursing
Graduate/FNP Program Director, School of Nursing

My research interests focus on my area of expertise and core interests; these being Maternal/Child health, teaching and learning, and decision-making, particularly in relation to health services and the impact on health disparities.

• UC Merced. (2022). Farmworker health in California. Assisted in report writing.
• Perea-Ryan, M. & Tiscareno, M. (2022). The impact of the health disparities course on awareness and assessment practices of FNP students. IRB submission, Research.in Progress
• Perea-Ryan, M. (2022). Practicum in times of Covid. The Journal of Health Administration Education, 38(4), pp 1025-1036.
• Perea-Ryan, M. (October 24-28, 2020). When and why infants visit the emergency department: Social determinants of health matter. APHA's 2020 Annual Meeting & Expo. Virtual Symposium: Poster Presentation (Peer Reviewed).
• Perea-Ryan, M. (2019). Predictors of Infant Emergency Department Utilization. Western Institute of Nursing Research (WIN) Conference. San Diego, CA: Poster Presentation. (Peer Reviewed).
• Perea-Ryan, M. (November 10-14, 2018). Influences on Rural Mothers’ Decision Making When Their Infant Is Ill. APHA's 2018 Annual Meeting & Expo. San Diego, CA: Poster Presentation (Peer Reviewed).

Kelly Cotter, Ph.D.
Associate Professor in Psychology & Child Development

Dr. Kelly Cotter is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and Child Development at California State University, Stanislaus. She teaches courses on health psychology, human development, research methods, and statistics at the Stockton campus. Dr. Cotter’s research interests include psychosocial influences on health and health behaviors across the lifespan. She has published research on the topics of social support, health-related social control, personality, exercise, osteoarthritis, stress, depression, diabetes, and dementia.

Veronica R. Dawson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Communication Studies

My research interests are in the areas of organizational communication, social media, and health communication. Specifically, I am intrigued by the ways in which organizations communicatively construct identity and foster identification among members and other stakeholders. I treat social media as an exciting and different context for these processes. In terms of health communication, I am interested in strategic communication and messaging, especially the role of social norms, in persuasion.

• For the past few years, I have been intrigued by the National Park Service as an organization, so much of my research and writing has revolved around it.
• I have published in some of the premier communication journals, such as Human Relations, Management Communication Quarterly, and Critical Studies in Media Communication. I am the recipient of numerous conference paper awards and I am a frequently invited guest speaker.

Ping Luo, MPH., Ed.D
Professor,
Department of Kinesiology and Public Health Promotion

Previous and Current Works and Research

• Holistic Health, Ethnomedicines, Traditional Healing Modality, Mental Emotional Spiritual Health, Yoga as Medicine

Published Books:

• “Spiritual Health and Healing”
• “Pathless Tao – Alchemy of Self Actualization” in Print

Eric Conrad, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Department of Kinesiology and Public Health Promotion

Previous/current works such as research interests

Dr. Conrad received his Ph.D. from the University of Alabama in Health Education and Promotion with an emphasis in Epidemiology. His main interests revolve around the intersection of public health epidemiology, adolescent and school health, and technology-mediated interventions. His research focuses particularly on health-related behaviors (mental health, substance use, diet/nutrition, and physical activity) among adolescents; the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) readiness and implementation in schools; and technology-mediated interventions to improve health outcomes. Dr. Conrad has also served as an epidemiological consultant during the COVID-19 pandemic for both the university and external school districts.

Pengtao Li, Ph.D.
Professor & Department Chair of Management Information Systems

Dr. Pengtao Li is a professor and department chair of Management Information Systems, the College of Business Administration at Stanislaus State. He got his Ph.D. degree in Decision Science and Information Systems from Gatton College of Business and Economics at University of Kentucky. His current research interests include human computer interaction, technology application in decision making and health science, business analytics, and e-commerce. He has published at various journals such as Decision Science Institute, International Journal of Information Management, and Journal of Electronic Commerce Research. One of his current research projects is “The Impact of Electronic Health Records (EHR) on  

Financial Performance of Health Care Providers”. His teaching activities cover database management, system analysis and design, and information systems management.

Meggan Jordan, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Sociology & Gerontology 

Previously, I served as a Research Scientist in the Veteran’s Health Administration. I managed randomized controlled trials for stroke caregiver interventions. This work can be found in: 

• Jordan, M., Freytes, I.M., Orozco, T., Dang, S., Rutter, T., and Uphold, C.R. (2023). The RESCUE problem solving intervention for stroke caregivers: A mixed-methods pilot study. Rehabilitation Psychology, Forthcoming. doi: 10.1037/rep0000460 

I am currently examining the spread of health disinformation through conspiracies and conspirituality 

I consider myself a medical sociologist and social gerontologist.  

I was one of the first researchers to explore the rehabilitation experiences of people with spinal cord injury, using qualitative phenomenological methods. This work can be found in: 

• Jordan, M., Berkowitz, D., Hannold, E.M., Velozo, C.A., and Behrman, A. (2013). Thinking through every step: How people with spinal cord injuries relearn to walk. Qualitative Health Research, 23(8), 1027-1041.  doi: 10.1177/1049732313494119

Esteban Montenegro-Montenegro, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology and Child Development

Previously, I served as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the UC Davis Alzheimer’s Disease Center East-Bay. Where I coordinated a randomized control trial along with data management, and data analytics implementation in R language.   

I’m working on application of Bayesian inference in longitudinal designs, I also combine my passion for statistics and psychometrics with research in aging and healthy lifestyles.  

These are some of my publications: 

• Waggener, L., Pati, D., Rane, A. P., Montenegro-Montenegro, E., & Angelo, E. (2021). Lessons Learned From Decentralization of an Elective Surgery Medical-Surgical Unit. HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal, 14(3), 182-201.
• Chiu, C., Covello-Jones, A. R., Montenegro, E., Brooks, J. M., & Shen, S. (2021). Different Relationships Between Steps and Movements and Healthy Biomarkers in People With and Without Disability. Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 1, 1-12.
• Ptomey, L. T., Vidoni, E. D., Montenegro-Montenegro, E., Thompson, M. A., Sherman, J. R., Gorczyca, A. M., & Donnelly, J. E. (2019). The Feasibility of Remotely Delivered Exercise Session in Adults with Alzheimer’s Disease and Their Caregivers. Journal of aging and physical activity, (00), 1-8.

Brent Powell, Ph.D.
Professor of Public Health Promotion in the Department of Kinesiology and Public Health Promotion

Brent Powell is currently a Professor of Public Health Promotion in the Department of Kinesiology and Public Health Promotion. In 2010 he graduated from the University of Alabama at Birmingham with his doctorate in public health promotion and health education. He has served the public health profession on numerous boards, committees, and taskforces within organizations such as SOPHE, SHAPE America, APHA and CAHPERD. Dr. Powell has presented on various health topics at state, national, and international conferences, and published research on many health topics such as tobacco prevention, nutrition education, school health education, sexual health, and STD/STI prevention. He has worked to help Stanislaus County Health Services Tobacco Prevention Services with strategic planning and worked with other state professional associations for health education and physical education related to strategic planning and professional development through social media. Dr. Powell’s currently volunteers with organizations that work to create or advocate for healthier schools and communities.